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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Switched my Parents to Linux (lemmy.ml)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

107 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm visiting my parents for the holidays and convinced them to let me switch them to Linux.

They use their computer for the typical basic stuff; email, YouTube, Word, Facebook, and occasionally printing/scanning.

I promised my mom that everything would look the same and work the same. I used Linux Mint and customized the theme to look like Windows 10. I even replaced the Mint "Start" button with the Windows logo.

So far they like it and everything runs great. Plus it's snappier now that Windows isn't hogging all the system resources.

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[–] Sanyanov 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Recommending Linux is good; forcing it down someone's throat is not.

If parents are just comfy using Windows, it'll get them super frustrated when they'll face new issues coming from Linux use, as you just can't turn Linux into Windows and they never asked for it.

Now, if they complain about all the shit Windows throws at them, you can offer an alternative.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I see what you're saying, but it has gone down fine so far. My dad is completely computer-illiterate, every phone/computer he uses seems like it was found in an alien spacecraft to him, so changing from Windows to Linux doesn't make any difference to him. He just needs to be able to click the Chrome icon and then click the YouTube favorite button or the Hotmail favorite button.

My mom worked way back in the day for a corpo that used DOS systems, so she actually has remained slightly computer savvy. She was worried about the change until I showed her that the Spotify app worked perfectly, she could read her emails, open Word documents, and print stuff.

I also explained that the computer would run faster and would be safer for them to use because the malware that effects Windows doesn't effect Linux, and that made sense to her.

If she had insisted I keep them on Windows, I would have. But she was just concerned that nothing would work the same and she would have to become some techie to figure it out. Once I addressed those concerns, she was alright with switching.